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There is one character trait missing from most leaders and it's that of being a continual learner. It's the one trait that motivates elite leaders (those that rise above the rest) to become better every day. 

I've said before that it's difficult to understand others when you can't understand yourself. Following that logic, it makes sense that you can't lead others unless you can first lead yourself. 

There's a reason communication is the number one dysfunction recognized in any survey of any individual or organization struggling to accomplish their objectives. Understanding the Why is more important than the How.

More and more, those with positions of authority and power are withholding selective communication from their people in order to maintain control of the environment and the narrative. When Leaders don't communicate, they should stop wondering why no one trusts them. 

The workplace has changed forever. The days of the charismatic, 'hero' type leader are over. Leaders in a Post COVID environment must evolve into thought leaders, willing to allocate time to people and activities that will impact them personally and professionally.

I talk with more and more current and aspiring leaders weekly, struggling to realize their capacity because of too many of their direct reports operating in command and control mode because of COVID. Operating in crisis never helps anyone survive the crisis, especially when Servant Leadership is subordinated. 

Unfortunately, we're not seeing much of that kind of leadership today, are we? It's disappointing to see so many leaders focusing on outcomes more than people, which is what happens when you're leading in crisis. 

Taking advantage of opportunities is one thing. Taking advantage of people is quite another. 

My greatest fear is that the dictatorial and autocratic leadership style now in charge will ripple downhill to the rest of the country. Instead of self-serving leaders who  marginalize, neutralize and muzzle potential leaders and their capacity, we need more servant leaders who encourage, lift up and serve those under their influence.

I've said often that one size fits all leadership fits no one. Now, more than ever, with the Political turmoil and the influence of COVID, knowing your people is more critical than ever. To do that, you have to know yourself first. 

At the end of every year, the first question my mentor, Sam Walton, would ask the entire leadership group was What can we give back to the Associates next year? He never stopped talking about what we could do to appreciate them and make them feel valued. I can't remember the last time anyone asked me a similar question, but I can tell you about the last few times I've been asked how operational processes could be improved. 

No one would argue that humility is a pre-requisite for great leadership, yet when I  searched the top ten most humble leaders, only two of them are still alive today. Humility in today's leaders appears to be a very rare commodity.

We all have conflicting opinions about many things. They fall into categories of minor, major, and that one's a deal-breaker.'  These opinions are biases about the way we feel things should be. In my view, knowing more about how and why people have these biases has everything to do with knowing more about how to lead them

Not everything we do or every person we interact with daily is intentional or preferred. Most leaders think it just happens and it's part of their responsibility. In fact, that's not the case. Regardless of how, what or who, we make a conscious decision to engage. When we engage, something or someone somewhere else is penalized. 

Do you see yourself as others see you? If not, you may be setting standards for others that are not only unrealistic, they may be so unrealistic that others have no desire to meet them. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all. I'm grateful beyond measure for each of you that follow the podcast and I'll be coming to you every Monday going forward on The Leader's Podcast!  

We're seeing many examples today (especially in Politics), where the desire to overachieve motivates Leaders to do so regardless of the cost, especially to people. At least in my lifetime, I'm distressed to see the culture of our government, organizations, churches communities, education institutions and especially our families, disrupted to a degree never experienced, all for the sake of destructive achievement.

There are so many perspectives on Leadership, and the old adage that perception is always reality hasn't been the case since the earth cooled. Your perspective depends on your point of reference, meaning that if you haven't experienced it, then you don't have a case. It's the same with Courage and the role it plays in Leadership.

Much like an Excel function, the art of Leading people depends upon what you put in relevant to what outcomes you want. It's different than Contingency Planning, which is more about process and operations. The technical side of things is easy. Something breaks, get a professional to fix it. There's never anything easy about the people side, especially if you don't know much about how character, behavior and culture determine outcomes.  

Identity is how we view ourselves, reputation is how others view us. As the leader, which one is more important to you, because if you don't know the difference, you may be leading your people down the wrong path.